Chapter 1511: Special Xenomorph
Xu Huo walked a not-too-long distance through the city. The televisions in shops, discarded phones on the roadside, or laptops still running in some households—aside from the forcibly popped-up warning alerts—mostly remained on news broadcasts. Judging by the timeline, the city had likely been completely overrun for no more than half a day.
Although traces of xenomorph activity could be seen in many places, so far he hadn't spotted any living xenomorphs. Occasionally, there were two or three xenomorph corpses, crushed to death by collapsed buildings, with little sign of combat.
If Zone 017's evolution hadn't been going on for long, it wasn't surprising that there were no standout players capable of fighting xenomorphs. But a city should have armed forces—even if no guns, at least a few weapons—so there should have been some resistance.
Xu Huo checked the nearby police station and fire department. Vehicles, firearms, axes, and the like had all been taken, perhaps evacuated in advance upon receiving word. The bloodstains and debris scattered around didn't match the city's scale either, which was good news—at least it suggested most people had already left.
Walking a bit further, he spotted a relatively intact human limb inside the belly of a xenomorph that had been pierced through the chest and abdomen by a steel bar from a building. Most other xenomorphs still retained some human form, but this one had mutated strangely. Its head had swollen to more than twice the size of a normal person's, and the section from its mouth to its neck seemed specially evolved. A short iron rod stuck in its mouth hadn't torn through its throat; instead, it had pushed through the skin, creating a bulge at least a palm's length long.
This top-heavy xenomorph had particularly thick upper limbs, while its legs appeared slender in comparison—it was nearly breaking away from human form and moving toward complete animalization, making it an anomaly even among xenomorphs.
After examining the xenomorph's corpse, Xu Huo cut an opening in the collapsed steel plate beside it and jumped in once the dust had settled a bit.
This building had collapsed thoroughly. The entrances to the lower floors were completely blocked, so opening from above was more convenient and safer.
Cutting down layer by layer, Xu Huo melted through a twisted door on the third floor and found a disabled elderly man lying on the ground.
After bringing him out, he found two children who had lost their parents on a lower floor.
In just over ten minutes, he had pulled six people from the collapsed building—old and young alike. They had failed to evacuate in time and could only hide at home, hoping that once the xenomorph swarm passed through the city, they'd be safe. But they hadn't expected the xenomorphs' destructive power to be so terrifying. Dozens would chase a single target, breaking through walls if someone hid in a building, or digging through the ground if someone was in an underground mall—let alone those hiding in cars or cabinets.
If the building hadn't collapsed, these six wouldn't have survived either.
One of the younger children was in bad shape and died just a few minutes after being brought out.
"Rescue... isn't there any rescue?" the disabled old man muttered, looking at the scarred city with despair and helplessness. "Didn't they say there would be rescue?"
Communication devices were still usable. The two teenagers had already learned to search for information through online channels, but the news online wasn't good. Aside from fragmented footage of xenomorph appearances, everything else urged survivors to save themselves. The country was nearly paralyzed, facilities were massively damaged, and communications might cut out at any moment. At this point, few people cared about what xenomorphs looked like or how to deal with them, or how the country and players were faring. They only wanted to know the location of safe zones.
Zone 017's safe zones were temporarily requisitioned military bases or armed assembly points. The network broadcasted safe zone locations around the clock, telling the living to make their way there on their own.
But the published list of safe zones was already several days old.
Xu Huo found the nearest location and said to the five survivors, "I'll take you there."
"Are you a player?" the disabled old man asked, looking at him. "Where are you from?"
"I'm not a player from Zone 017," Xu Huo replied. The city's communications hadn't completely cut off yet, so they should already know from the network that players from other zones had arrived.
Sure enough, upon hearing he was an outer zone player, their expressions shifted. It wasn't deep-seated hatred, but their faces clearly showed anger and resistance.
This wasn't surprising. Xu Huo had seen reports of nuclear city destruction on a phone he'd picked up.
To combat the xenomorph tide, along with wars between nations, Zone 017 had begun heavily using nuclear weapons. However, the nukes used against the xenomorph tide were mostly deployed in sparsely populated areas. The nuclear war between major powers hadn't fully erupted yet, and the ones affected were the small countries caught in the combat zones.
Two previous attacks by outer zone players had shattered Zone 017's situation. They first took control of weapons and coerced local governments into handing over super items or individuals suspected of possessing them.
This method had a very low chance of success. First, the whereabouts of the super items were unknown. Second, even if a super item was in the area, players could simply carry it away. Agreeing or handing over people would only embolden the outer zone players.
The details of the process were unclear, but the two cities that had been publicly threatened were covered by nuclear strikes one and three hours later, respectively.
These two extreme examples had also sparked a wave of public opinion calling for weapon destruction, but it was quickly drowned out by the ensuing disasters. By today, the various countries in Zone 017, under multiple calamities, could no longer take any effective measures to reverse the decline.
Until the super item's whereabouts were confirmed, outer zone players wouldn't leave Zone 017. Meanwhile, the countries in Zone 017 had already shrunk their areas of activity due to the xenomorph tide and previous wars. With only some special cities able to establish safe zones, the outer zone players' search range had greatly narrowed—if the person or force holding the super item was still in Zone 017, they would likely enter a safe zone as well.
Of course, all of this was based on the premise that the super item hadn't left Zone 017. If someone had already taken it, then Zone 017 would have to bear all the consequences caused by the outer zone players.
Xu Huo respected their decision. He checked the time and said, "You have five minutes to think it over."
With that, he left the street and went a few hundred meters away to examine another xenomorph corpse.
After confirming that the two large-headed xenomorphs looked no different externally, he used his knife to cut open the corpse and carefully inspected the area from its mouth to its throat. Feeling around, he pinched a very small hard piece.
Taking out the piece, Xu Huo examined the chip—less than a fifth the size of a fingernail but covered in patterns—then put it in his pocket and turned to face behind him:
Standing less than a hundred meters away were a pair of men and women who looked alike, looking down at him from a height.
(Chapter End)